SCHOOLS

Year 10 student Callum Kilmore-Walsh at work.

The vision of how the pump track will eventually look.

Wheely hard work going on at Chiltern Way Academy!

Earth left over from school building works has left a great opportunity for the students to build their own bike Pump Track. A pump track is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders "pumping"—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedalling or pushing.

The work is being completed by our year 10-12 students under the guidance of CWA teacher Matt Rush and Ian Warby from Firecrest Mountain Biking - a specialist in Mountain Bike Skills at Aston Bike Park.

Mr Rush, who delivers the Duke of Edinburgh course at the school, was looking into ways of engaging the students and covers the requirements of the course. Building the Pump Track will give students vital construction experience and a great new resource for physical fitness. Elements of Maths, Science, Design and Technology, Construction, Landscaping and Horticulture are involved. In addition, the project promotes life skills such as problem solving, teamwork, communication, patience and resilience.

Once the track is finished our 6th form students will set up an enterprise project around marketing the pump track for hire. This will form part of our entry for the Peter Jones Foundation - ‘Tycoon Enterprise 2020 Competition’. We will update Wendover News readers of how we get on in the competition!

For information regarding the Pump Track or if you can help in any way please contact Matthew Rush directly at the school at mrush@chilternway.org.

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